ICE

Doug Porter’s Guide to protests, actions, events, vigils

Here we are in year two of Trump II, and you’d have to be blind to say the administration hasn’t flooded the zone with Project 2025 schemes, would-be Presidential monuments, Racism, and lies like nobody’s ever seen before. From day one it’s been difficult for non-MAGA types to comprehend and react to the pace of administration actions. Broken down into their actual components, they include:…


Sheriff Kelly Martinez, protector of who exactly?

San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez is a politician dressed in a badge, pretending to uphold the law while peddling fear and dodging accountability. On Tuesday, in a move as predictable as the sunrise, she declared herself above the will of the people she supposedly serves, all in the name of bending the knee to ICE—Trump’s personal deportation squad. San Diego County supervisors made their…


Border Patrol goons racially profile San Diego migrants

Christian Ramirez was on his way to school 35 years ago when a Border Patrol agent approached him at gunpoint. Then just 15 years old, the San Diegan was apparently handcuffed on the streets of the Nestor border community, wrongly and racially profiled. Ramirez recalled the incident in a Facebook post recently after the Supreme Court broke with lower courts in a major immigration enforcement…


Letter from Memphis: Tyrants must not stand unopposed

I have left the Daily Memphian. They refused to run my column this week. Too critical of Trump, they said. Trump is not, NOT local, they said. This week, of all weeks, Trump is not local? Enough, I said. When a paper censors its columnists to align with management, that paper ceases being a paper. Regardless of your beliefs, all beliefs must be served and…


Immigrant Day of Action 2025 draws Sac City support

Over 1,400 people gathered to celebrate and advocate for immigrant rights as part of the California Immigrant Policy Center’s (CIPC) “Immigrant Day of Action 2025” on April 8 and 9 at Sacramento. The event included speeches and participation by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, and Assemblymembers Juan Carrillo, Jose Solache and Joaquin Arambula.  This was the first ever two-day Immigrant Day of Action (IDA) held by…


Immigrant rights advocates comment on a bill providing $25M to protect immigrant Californians

Immigrant rights advocacy organizations, including the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC), Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) and Vera Institute of Justice, issued the following statement regarding a bill approved by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom today that would provide $25 million to protect immigrant Californians and other vulnerable communities threatened by the Trump administration’s policies: We are thankful that the state…


Sanctuary: Defending faith and humanity against fear

The sun had barely risen, casting a pale, hesitant light over a land that seemed unsure of itself, when the news came down like a hammer on an old anvil. The announcement wasn’t made with fanfare, nor with the solemnity one might expect from something so grave. No, it was delivered with the cold efficiency of machinery, as if humanity were an afterthought in the…


Otay Mesa Detention Center experiences first detained migrant death from COVID-19

The first confirmed death in an ICE detention center from COVID-19 has been reported at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. Otay Mesa is run by the private, for-profit contractor, CoreCivic. A 57-year-old person in immigration custody died Wednesday, May 6 from complications related to the coronavirus, authorities said, marking the first reported death from the virus among about 30,000 people in immigration custody….


ACLU: Release COVID-19 at-risk detainees (Updated 4/13 — Detainees released.)

Updated Monday, April 13….ACLU clients, Yusuf Ozdemir and Jane Doe, were released the night of Thursday, April 9; and Miguel Angel Benitez and Issis Yoselin Zelaya Sagastume were released the following Friday night. “Our plaintiffs’ release from custody is a victory for them and their families,” said Monika Y. Langarica, immigrants’ rights staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties. “We urge ICE to continue…


ACLU to ICE: Get Coronavirus act together

Today, Wednesday, March 11, the ACLU Foundation of California sent letters to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detention center officials urging them to develop a comprehensive emergency plan for the prevention and management of potential Coronavirus (or COVID-19) cases at its detention centers. In the letters, the ACLU asks for written responses from ICE and other detention center officials that explain how they…